The sun is about 150 million kilometres from Earth. This is a distance of one astronomical unit. Light from the sun takes only a few minutes to reach the Earth.

The sun's temperature varies from 6000oC at the surface to 16000000oC at the core.

The sun rotates approximately every 30 days.

Sunspots are darker, cooler parts of the sun which rotate approximately every 11 years.

Solar Flares are explosions of hot gases from the surface. These send off electromagnetic radiation that causes auroras in Earth's night sky, and disrupts radio transmission.

Solar Prominences are arches of hot gases that are seen on the sun's surface.

The sun makes its energy from nuclear reactions called Nuclear Fusion, a process in which 2 hydrogen nuclei join to make a larger helium nucleus. This process gives off huge amounts of heat and light energy.

The sun's age is about 4.5 billion years. There is probably enough hydrogen to fuel nuclear fusion reactions for another 4.5 billion years, so the sun is probably half-way through its life.